


run through this minute like a hurricane

by monanotlisa



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bonding, Canon Related, Canon Universe, Crushes, Dialogue Heavy, Episode Tag, F/F, Feelings, Feels, Female Relationships, Female-Centric, First Kiss, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Humor, Relationship(s), Revelations, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:38:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9708527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monanotlisa/pseuds/monanotlisa
Summary: This is how Kara ends up on the sofa right next to Lena drinking cider from a can as if she's never done anything else. She’s delicately sipping at something that’s not even delicately-sippable, in Kara’s experience. She watches Lena’s mouth at the opening of the can, her tongue darting out to catch a sparkling droplet. Maybe Kara should really reconsider this whole drinking business and try some cider. Or try talking?Thankfully Lena beats her to that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Episode tag to _Supergirl_ 2x10 “We Can Be Heroes.” 
> 
> (Why yes, I'm getting this out before I watch the new ep. Clearing my cache, so to speak.)

 

Her front door closes behind Mon-El. Kara drops her back against it and breathes. Out. Out. Still out. Wow, that was a lot of carbon dioxide trapped in her lungs. Kara rubs her forehead. She was glad to have company; she just wasn’t feeling so great about the direction the conversation was going. Clearing the air is great! But Kara realizes it’s even greater not having to clear any air in the first place.

The knock on her door startles her more than it should; Kara jumps a little and turns. She doesn’t bother to slip her glasses off before opening the door to what she supposes is Mon-El upping the 80% awkwardness of herself by another 60%. “Hey, did you forget — oh.” 

It’s Lena. She’s standing in the doorframe like she belongs there, straight-backed and elegant, although —

“I’d forgotten you went to Cambridge!” Kara blurts out. It’s not even that; it’s the simple fact that Lena Luthor is wearing a hoodie, of all things. Kara pulls herself together and tries to look away from Lena's chest with its faded little crest of golden lions and, what are those, lilies?

Lena raises her eyebrows. “Yes, as an undergraduate. Sleepless nights but a fair amount of degrees in the end.” She pulls the hood back, and who would’ve guessed; flawless Luthors, too, get flyaways. A silky strand is escaping the ornate braid Kara spots when Lena turns her head just so. The fluorescent gleam from overhead brings out red highlights in her hair. “Can I come in, or would you prefer to go over my education in the hallway?” There’s no sting in Lena’s words, but Kara feels a little shockwave go through her still. 

She tugs at Lena’s (soft, well-worn) sleeve. “Come in!” Glancing around the corner quickly, Kara is relieved to see no one else out there. She closes the door with more finality this time around, locks it, and turns back to Lena. “Are you okay?”

“Funny, that’s what I wanted to ask you.” Lena lowers the zipper of her hoodie an inch or so, and Kara’s mouth goes inexplicably dry. “But first, thanks for letting me in. I’m trying to avoid eyes on me at night-time.”

That makes sense, oblique as Lena’s statement seems. Kara is a reporter, so naturally she has researched what the press says about Lena Luthor. And while tabloids aren’t a necessary point of reference, Kara is thorough and has made sure to check on what TMZ et al. have been “reporting” about the Luthor scion’s occasional and really only semi-scandalous meetings: with super-attractive women in clubs and lounges, flanked by the occasional shot of Lena next to a beautiful model with endless legs and perfect dark skin; of Lena with another young businesswoman of the year cuddled close and whispering into Lena’s ear behind a convenient curtain of straight black hair. 

“Of, of course I’d welcome you inside,” Kara manages to mumble. “Sit down, please.” She pats the sofa, and Lena gives her a grateful smile before sinking easily into the cushions. Good. So far so good! Kara tries to remember whether she has any alcohol to serve. Lena prefers champagne, red wine, and elaborate cocktails, judging by articles and reasonable facsimiles thereof. Kara doesn’t really have any of those in stock. What she does have is medium-expensive whiskey that Alex has stashed here where she thinks Kara either can’t see or doesn’t care (it’s the latter), and…bingo! "Um, would you like some cider? Winn left it here the last movie night, and I don't really drink." 

Kara immediately cringes. That sounds like she's trying to use Lena as a garbage can, when really she'd happily invest in some expensive bubbly if only it made Lena come by more often.

But Lena smiles what looks like most of her smiles to Kara: genuinely delighted. "I'd love some cider. Thank you, Kara. You're a sweet host."

This is how Kara ends up on the sofa right next to Lena drinking cider from a can as if she's never done anything else. She’s delicately sipping at something that’s not even delicately-sippable, in Kara’s experience. She watches Lena’s mouth at the opening of the can, her tongue darting out to catch a sparkling droplet. Maybe Kara should reconsider this whole drinking business and try some cider. Or try talking? 

Thankfully Lena beats her to that, after pursing her lips. "Kara, I'll be honest; I was a bit worried. I hadn’t seen you in person for so long after the debacle.”

 _Debacle_ is right. Not one of Kara’s finest moments, really. After Lillian Luthor had been led away, Kara indeed texted Lena, a little too copiously maybe. But she didn't show her face. “Lena, I’m so sorry. I should have come by...and I wanted to.” That much is the truth. Since she’s on a roll? "I went out of town and felt bad for abandoning you when you needed a friend."

Lena frowns just a little. She says, "Oh, that's not what I thought." But she says it just late enough that Kara knows in her heart that it's kind-of-exactly what Lena had been worrying about. Lena takes a deep breath. "Besides, it's not you who has to come to me all the time. I know you often have…business with me. That said, for our more, well, personal meetings, I'm happy to make them work for both of us."

"I'd be happy too," Kara says, and because clearly she can't help herself tonight: "I mean, I'm always happy to see you."

Is that a faint blush on Lena's cheeks? "I -- honestly, Kara? You seemed a little stunned to see me just now."

More like, surprised and thrilled and nervous _and_ happy. But she can't tell Lena that. What she can tell her, though, is what has been running through her head when Lena came. "I had a visitor before you. We work together. He, he basically told me he likes me..." Kara trails off, but Lena’s face is attentive, fully focused. The patience in it calms Kara. "We agreed we are just friends, though, working together. And then he left, which, _phew_."

Lena nods. "Mike, of the interns?"

"Yes...was it that visible?"

"Only from space," Lena says off-handedly. "Kara, he didn't push himself onto the guest list of my party because he likes parties -- although that one is clearly true as well, from what I saw. Mostly, though, he wanted to go out with you."

Kara puts her face in her hands. Between her fingers, she peers at Lena. "I guess I just didn’t want to see it."

Lena smoothes out a crease in her black pants that doesn’t really exist, as far as Kara's excellent vision is concerned. "Why did you not want to see it?"

This is hardly the million-dollar question Lena makes it out to be. "Duh," Kara says, "I like him, but I don’t like him."

"Ah." Lena’s shoulders drop a little. She reaches out and takes another sip of the cider, in spite of the fact the can must be empty by now. "And yet he pursues you, comes by at night?"

Okay. That one’s a bit thorny. Kara adjusts her glasses. "I...may have given him the wrong idea."

“No, Kara." Lena's voice is almost sharp, and Kara freezes. Lena does too, tries again, her voice dropping. “Unless you’ve told him or shown him actively that you were interested, don't blame yourself." Her eyes are warm and wary both.

Kara isn't sure about it but thinks she can figure it out together with Lena. “He kissed me, but I didn't kiss him back." That gets her another long look from Lena. Kara can hear Lena’s heartbeat speed up, which kicks off a weird feedback loop, because her own is suddenly loud in her ears. “I didn’t want to kiss him, or him to kiss me. But…”

“But?” 

“But I liked his attention." It’s out, and Kara feels her gaze drop. “Not the romantic attention! Just, that he was there. I know, it's pathetic. There was no one else. Alex has a girlfriend now, and I’m so happy for her that sometimes I feel like bursting when I see her smile! She just, she doesn’t have the time for the two of us any more that she used to have." And if that were all...but it's not. Kara can't think of James without feeling a pang. "My other friends, they have been doing their own thing, I suppose -- not with me like they used to, but separately from me. And they’re all paired up too. I feel like I’m the only one flying solo.” Also, she really, really has to get over mentioning flight to Lena.

“I'm sorry, Kara. That sounds pretty lonely.” Lena's eyes are soft when Kara brings her gaze back up. “Whatever reasons your friends have, it’s a fucked-up thing to do to you, especially when your core relationship is changing.”

Strong words, and an even stronger emotion behind. Kara wants to say something. She ends up just nodding emphatically. How can Lena know, except of course she is a sibling whose other half slipped away, who doesn’t seem to have any faithful friends, and whose relationship with her mother has just crumbled. Kara isn’t making this up: Lena is here, reaching out to her for something between them. 

“Kara,” Lena’s voice is still pitched low, “since you’ve already shared this much with me tonight — and, thank you — maybe there’s one more thing you want to share?”

Kara blinks. “Um.” Lena’s leg is touching hers, gently and lightly, but again it feels like a current to Kara: as if Livewire were touching her, only pleasant. “Share?” She manages to look up at Lena’s face, but that’s a bad idea, a very bad idea, because Lena’s eyes always take her breath away a little, even now, with tiredness smudged underneath and that perfect mascara fraying at the corners like tiny dark freckles. When Kara’s gaze dips, it doesn’t get better, because there’s Lena’s mouth, still-red and silky, but at least she’s not biting her lower lip right now, which usually has a terribly distracting effect on Kara and makes her think about herself biting it instead, and okay, well, maybe there is something to share after all. 

Lena has been flirting with her ever since they’ve known each other. Lena is here, in her apartment, so close, near-midnight on a weekday, not to mention a weekday with an L-Corp Board Meeting coming up (Snapper has her cover Lena well).

She’s Supergirl. She can do this. “Okay.” She closes her eyes, takes comfort in readjusting her glasses again: protection, in more ways than one. “I probably should’ve told you earlier, but I guess I just didn’t…” She didn’t let herself think? Let herself feel?

“Kara.” Lena sounds so understanding, soft rather than seductive, and oddly enough that makes it easier for Kara to meet Lena’s eyes just when Lena says, “It’s okay; I get it.”

Right, of course, of course. Kara is silly to think that Lena herself didn’t at some point had revelations about girls, and herself, and herself with girls, or one girl for sure, and — 

“I like _you_ , not him.” Kara says, and wants to cringe immediately because what is she, twelve? “I mean, I would like to…date you, go out with you, or stay in with you, whatever you prefer, really; it’s all good as long as it’s with you.” Except Kara stops to breathe, and she doesn’t start blabbering again because of the expression on Lena’s face.

Lena’s mouth is half-open, but Kara knows with one-hundred percent clarity that this is an entirely unstudied, non-posed reaction shot of _Lena Luthor, flabbergasted_.

It feels like an eternity to Kara (who did spend half of one in a floating pod, so she thinks of herself as a bit of an expert), but Lena eventually clears her throat, and her cheeks color a little. “Well, that’s not the confession I expected.”

Something hard and cold beginning to lodge itself inside Kara’s chest, right where her wildly beating heart is, but as if she sensed it Lena’s hands cover hers, and the shock of her touch is warm. Lena leans in almost hastily, “But, I’ll take it. Let’s keep some sharing to another night, shall we?” Her fingers interlace with Kara’s in a way that makes Kara shiver, and now, now she aims her dazzling-green wink at Kara. “We can continue to share non-verbally, though?”

“Sounds super,” Kara says, faintly, and it’s not hard at all to lean in and find out that yes, Lena’s mouth feels as wonderful against her own as she totally did not imagine.

(And her lower lip turns out to be quite biteable too.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day, y'all -- seems the Archive is set to EST, so I did post this in the future (from where I stand, sit, write in the Bay).


End file.
